Shift-Lab is a collective of five artists: Katie Baldwin (Huntsville, AL), Denise Bookwalter (Tallahassee, FL), Sarah Bryant (Tuscaloosa, AL), Macy Chadwick (Oakland, CA), and Tricia Treacy (Boone, NC).
The collective began in 2013 as a platform for collaborative inquiry. We are propelled by the use of digital and analog technology in our communication and collaboration. All five artists collaborate on projects that often include books and multiples while maintaining individual creative studio practices.
In our new project titled Trace, we explore the technology and aesthetics of mapping while responding to the traces of human activity left on the landscape. Individually, we investigated: an arsenal, a clay mine, a marina, a walking path, and a ski resort. Our sensory experiences navigating a landscape in real time are reinterpreted through symbols, sequences, and sounds in the exhibition.
Trace is a set of maps: a large collaborative map and five smaller maps by each individual artist, that fold into single sheet books. A series of framed prints, printed ephemera, a digitally printed newspaper, and sound file accompany the work. Trace utilizes a range of media including embroidery, letterpress, risograph, processing software, screenprint, and video/audio capture.